Live updates April 8: Mississippi sees 8 coronavirus deaths a day for 4th day in a row

3:30 p.m.

Gov. Tate Reeves signed Executive Order 1467 this week that temporarily waives the in-person requirement for notarizing legal documents during the coronavirus epidemic.

Secretary of State Michael Watson brought to the governor’s attention the need for using electronic methods rather than having people appear before a notary. For documents notarized remotely, the notary must keep an audio-video recording of the entire notarization.

2:30 p.m.

In Wednesday’s press conference, Governor Tate Reeves announced that they will “announce school plan” by Tuesday. Reeves said that he will be consulting with the state superintendent and educators from across the state to decide what is best for schools moving forward.

Tate also addressed Easter services, encouraging that people worship from home and virtually.

“This year we face a new challenge,” Reeves said. “This is not the time to hold in-person services and fill churches.”

Reeves said that this was a request from “one christian to another” to help stop the spread, stressing it was not a “government mandate” but request to help fight COVID-19.

12:30 p.m.

The daily reported number of deaths from coronavirus in the U.S. dropped below 700 Wednesday for the first time since April 1.

The Centers for Disease Control reported 20,682 new cases of coronavirus and 690 new deaths.

That comes after 43,438 new cases on Tuesday and 3,154 additional deaths in one day.

The totals now are 395,011 people have tested positive from the coronavirus and 12,754 have died.

10:40 a.m.

Mississippi Health Department is reporting new coronavirus statistics based on race, age and other factors.

Wednesday’s report shows through April 7 in Mississippi:

• Coronavirus cases by race — 56% are black, 37% are white and 7% are other
• Deaths by race — 72% are black, 28% are white
• Underlying conditions — Cardiovascular disease followed by diabetes and hypertension are the top underlying conditions of Mississippi residents who died from coronavirus.
• Pediatric cases — 11 children who tested positive for coronavirus in the state are age 1-5, 11 are ages 6-10, 29 are age 11-17
• Deaths by age: 1 was age 30-39, 3 were in their 40s, 5 were in their 50s, 16 were in their 60s, 25 were in their 70s, 17 were age 80 or older
• Other numbers — The most cases are in the 40-49 age group. The most hospitalized are age 60-69 and 58% are women. 30% of the cases are hospitalized.

10 a.m.

Four weeks since the first coronavirus case was reported in Mississippi, the state health department reports 88 new cases in the state, including 8 more in the lower six counties.

For the fourth straight day there are 8 additional deaths in the state. There were no deaths reported today in South Mississippi.

The total cases now stands at 2,003 in Mississippi and 300 in the lower six counties. Deaths reported are 67 in the state and 13 in South Mississippi.

Total cases by South Mississippi county are:

George — 5 (0 new)

Hancock —32 (1 new)

Harrison — 88 (adjusted down from 89 on Tuesday)

Jackson — 111 (3 new)

Pearl — 60 (4 new)

Stone — 4 (1 new)

7:15 a.m.

Flags in Hattiesburg are lowered to half staff today in honor of Kevin Jordan, the city housing coordinator, who died from the coronavirus.

He was 58, according to a report in the Hattiesburg American, and had worked for the city for 13 years.

Mayor Toby Barker posted on Facebook late Tuesday night: “This is a sobering moment for our city. It is a stark reminder that the numbers we share each day are not statistics. They are real people with real lives.”

Barker said, “We grieve with his family, friends, coworkers and the many people he helped along the way. City Hall will not be the same.

The city announced on March 30 that an employee in Public Works tested positive for COVID-19.

7:10 a.m.

Another person who works at Stennis Space Center in Hancock County has tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total to 10.

7 a.m.

Singing River Health System reports Tuesday night that 1,129 tests have been performed for the coronavirus, with 6 more positive results in the last 24 hours. Three required hospitalization and three remained outpatients. The total positives now is 110, or 9.7% of those tested.

Moss Point leader Billy Knight posted on Facebook that he’d had a call from SRHS CEO Lee Bond asking for help. Bond told him that about half of all cases of coronavirus in Jackson County are in Moss Point.

Highlights from Monday:

▪ Mississippi has 177 new cases of coronavirus and 8 additional deaths. The total now stands at 1,915 cases and 59 deaths from the coronavirus.In the six southern counties of South Mississippi is 292 cases and 13 deaths.

▪ Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula reports 2 more cases of coronavirus in the West Bank Production Area. There now are 15 positive cases, with 5 of those employees now cleared to return to work.

▪ Lucedale has joined other cities in South Mississippi in enacting a nightly curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. within the city limits.

▪ Hancock County Supervisors have extended the closures of public facilities until at least May 4.

▪ Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves and the state’s epidemiologist, Dr. Paul Byers, acknowledged that the black community is hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Moss Point is an area of the state where we’ve seen a higher number of cases, particularly in the African-American community in that particular city,” Gov. Tate Reeves said on Tuesday during a press conference in Jackson.

This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 10:31 AM.